OTTAWA - U.S. authorities are aiding Ottawa police in investigating the involvement of a U.S. male nurse in the suicide last year of college student Nadia Kajouji.

Staff Sgt. Uday Jaswal, lead investigator in the case, says the probe focuses on online chats between Kajouji, 18, and the male nurse, The Ottawa Citizen reported Wednesday.

Kajouji's mother, Deborah Chevalier, read a transcript of one chat.

"He was trying to convince her to hang herself and he told her what type of rope to buy and how to tie it and the size of the rope you need to be successful," she said to the newspaper.

The Ottawa coed, who was battling depression, disappeared last March after telling her roommate she was going skating. Her body was discovered weeks later in the Rideau River behind Saint Paul University.

Jaswal wouldn't reveal which U.S. law enforcement agency is spearheading the investigation of the male nurse but he did say it involves "a taskforce in Minnesota that looks at internet crime," the Citizen said.